Irish Daily Mail

Wenger hails revival

- SAMI MOKBEL at the Emirates Stadium

ARSENE WENGER believes his side have turned the corner after the calamitous run that put his job under intense scrutiny. But chief executive Ivan Gazidis added to the uncertaint­y over Wenger’s future by refusing to answer questions about the manager during a meeting with fans yesterday. The win over Watford was played in front of thousands of empty seats as fans decided to stay away amid the growing discontent. But Wenger feels his side are now on an upward curve after a run of four consecutiv­e defeats. ‘It gets us out a little bit of that negative spiral we were in,’ said the Frenchman, whose side have now won two successive games. ‘We had a nightmare week so we have some work to do but overall we are in a good way. There’s a lot of negativity but I focus on my job and I’ve shown in 22 years that I can do that.’ Despite Wenger’s defiance, he admitted the no-show by fans is concerning. ‘I worry because I want our fans to be behind the team and happy, but after what happened in that week it’s a bit understand­able,’ he said. ‘We’re in a job, we have to get the fans on our side and do absolutely everything to do it, to achieve it.’ Yesterday’s win marked goalkeeper Petr Cech’s 200th Premier League clean sheet. The Czech saved his first penalty for the Gunners, denying Troy Deeney to keep his historic shut-out intact. ‘Two hundred clean sheets is remarkable and he had to wait a while to save a penalty,’ Wenger added. ‘In two weeks his situation shows how football is: in one week, he went from hell to heaven.’ Key defender Shkodran Mustafi is now a doubt for Thursday’s Europa League clash with AC Milan after limping off with a groin injury.

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